Anna Williamson, the vibrant relationship counsellor and presenter known for guiding celebrities through the rocky terrain of love on Celebs Go Dating, has never shied away from confronting tough truths—whether in her professional work or her personal life. At 44, happily married to fitness coach Alex Di Pasquale and a devoted mother to their two children, Anna’s journey to her fairy-tale ending was anything but straightforward. In an exclusive interview with OK!, she opens up about the gut-wrenching decision to walk away from a four-year relationship in her early thirties, a choice driven by a fundamental clash over one of life’s biggest questions: motherhood.
In her early thirties, Anna found herself at a pivotal moment. Deeply in love with her then-boyfriend, she faced a heart-wrenching dilemma. “I always knew I wanted to be a mum,” she shares candidly. “But my partner at the time was hesitant about having a family. He was clear about it from the start, and I knew I wanted children, but we both hoped we’d find a middle ground.” For four years, they danced around the issue, each holding onto the hope that the other might shift their stance. But as Anna approached her mid-thirties, the ticking of her biological clock grew louder, forcing a reckoning.
After four years together, the couple reached a breaking point. “We had to have a big conversation,” Anna recalls. “I was ready to start a family soon, but he was honest and said it wasn’t part of his plan. Neither of us was right or wrong, but it was incredibly painful.” The decision was stark: stay in a relationship that might never fulfill her dream of motherhood or walk away and start over. Choosing herself and her dream of becoming a mother, Anna ended the relationship at 33, stepping into the uncertainty of singledom while working as an agony aunt on This Morning and presenting on Big Brother’s Bit On The Side.
Single and yearning for a child, Anna grappled with what she describes as “desperation” to start a family. “I could’ve easily fallen into the trap of picking the wrong partner just to tick that box,” she admits. It’s a scenario she sees often in her work as a relationship coach, where clients rush into relationships driven by the fear of running out of time. “People do this mental maths,” Anna explains. “They think, ‘If I meet someone now, it’ll take months to get serious, then more time to try for a baby, and what if it doesn’t happen right away?’ It’s exhausting and based on outdated ideas about fertility.”
Instead of succumbing to panic, Anna took a proactive approach. She armed herself with knowledge, undergoing comprehensive fertility tests to understand her egg health, hormone levels, and options like egg freezing. “Knowledge is power,” she emphasizes. “I didn’t want to make decisions based on fear. I wanted to know exactly where I stood.” Her tests revealed a clearer picture of her fertility, empowering her to make informed choices rather than rushing into a relationship for the wrong reasons.
Anna’s experience fuels her advocacy for open conversations about fertility, a topic she believes is still shrouded in stigma. “We don’t talk enough about fertility,” she says. “So many people don’t know their options.” As part of her work with assisted reproductive technology provider FutureLife and healthcare firm CooperSurgical on their Let’s Talk Fertility campaign, Anna is pushing to normalize these discussions. Research shows that over a third of UK adults find fertility an “uncomfortable” topic, and nearly half believe it should be taught in schools. Anna agrees, stressing the importance of early education to empower individuals to make informed choices.
Her work on Celebs Go Dating, where she’s coached stars like Kerry Katona, Mark Labbett, and Gemma Collins, often brings these issues to the forefront. “The topic of having children comes up constantly in my private therapy practice,” she says. Her advice is unwavering: have the hard conversations early. “You need to distinguish between your needs and your wants,” she explains. “If becoming a parent is a need, you can’t compromise on that. It’s about preventing heartbreak later by being honest now.”
Anna has seen too many women “strung along” by partners who avoid the topic or aren’t fully transparent about their intentions. “It’s heartbreaking,” she says. “Couples avoid these conversations because the rest of the relationship feels good, but those big talks dictate your future.”
Anna’s respect for those navigating fertility challenges is palpable, particularly for public figures like Gemma Collins, who is documenting her journey toward motherhood in an upcoming eight-part series, Gemma Collins: Four Weddings And A Baby. “You don’t enter fertility treatment lightly,” Anna says. “There are emotional, physical, and financial challenges. I celebrate Gemma for shining a light on fertility at 40. There’s so much stigma, and it’s unwarranted. I wish her the best.”
Anna’s own journey saw her meet and marry Alex Di Pasquale, with whom she welcomed son Vincenzo, now eight, and daughter Eleanora, five. Before conceiving Eleanora, Anna underwent another round of fertility tests, and last year, at 43, she did so again to explore the possibility of a third child. “The headlines tell you your eggs are ‘dust’ by my age, but my tests showed I still had very good fertility,” she shares. “If I’d wanted another baby, I could’ve explored options like creating an embryo. Knowing where I stand is empowering.”
Today, Anna’s mission is clear: encourage honesty, education, and courage in the face of life’s biggest decisions. Whether coaching celebrities or everyday clients, she urges people to confront their desires head-on and seek the knowledge to make informed choices. Her own story—of leaving a relationship that didn’t align with her dreams and building a life that did—serves as a powerful reminder that the path to happiness often requires tough choices, but the rewards are worth it.
For Anna Williamson, the heartbreak of ending a four-year relationship was a turning point, not a dead end. It led her to a life filled with love, family, and a mission to help others find their own path to fulfillment. “We get one shot at life,” she says. “Make sure you’re honest about what you need—and go after it.”